Executive Team & Board of Directors
Cyclarity’s principals comprise the founding CEO and V.P. Research of SENS Research Foundation, the nonprofit research organization dedicated to the development of comprehensive regenerative medicine solutions for the diseases of aging. They have devoted themselves over the last decade to the development of true rejuvenation biotechnologies.
Dr. Matthew ‘Oki’ O’Connor
CEO of Scientific Affairs / Director
Cyclarity Therapeutics
Dr. O’Connor was awarded his master’s degree in neuroscience from Northwestern Medical in 1999 and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Baylor College of Medicine in 2005. His postdoctoral research includes work at UC Berkeley on muscle stem cells and aging. He is the former VP of Research at SENS Research Foundation where he oversaw a broad swath of research projects spanning many aspects of rejuvenation biotechnology from which he authored many papers and patents.
Michael Kope
CEO of Corporate Affairs / Director
Cyclarity Therapeutics
Mr. Kope co-founded SENS Research Foundation in 2009, and was its founding CEO, serving until 2019. He received his J.D. from the University of Michigan in 1990. He has served as the University of Michigan’s Intellectual Property Counsel; Director of Corporate Development for Aviron/MedImmune, Inc.; and as CEO and officer of a number of biotechnology startups.
Bill Liao
Chairman of the Board
Independent Director and Chair of the Investment Committee of Ki Tua Fund, General Partner at SOSV, Co-Founder of IndieBio (and predecessor RebelBio), with numerous Director positions.
Clinical Advisory Board
Cyclarity’s world class advisors are leaders in the field.
Dr. Michael E. Farkouh
Associate Dean for Research and Clinical Trials and Professor of Cardiology at Cedars-Sinai Hospital.
Dr. Prediman K. Shah
Director of Inpatient Cardiology and the Coronary Care Unit, Founder and Director of the Oppenheimer Atherosclerosis Research Center, Cedars-Sinai Hospital.
Dr. Stephen Nicholls
Program Director of MonashHeart, Intensive Care and Victorian Heart Hospital, Monash Health, Director, Monash Victorian Heart Institute and Prof of Cardiology, Monash University.
Staff
Cyclarity’s growing team of technical, legal, and policy experts bring essential skills to assure a strong launch for the company.
Vice President of Biology
Dr. Daniel M. Clemens
Dr. Clemens received his B.S. in biochemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2004 and his Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of California, Irvine, in 2013. He has participated in every aspect of the biology side of drug development, including discovery, in vitro screening, IND-enabling toxicology and pharmacology, regulatory filing, and early clinical development. Dr. Clemens maintains a focus on driving therapeutics from discovery to clinical proof of concept along efficient pathways.
Head of Clinical Affairs
Dr. Noah Rosenberg
Dr. Rosenberg our Head of Clinical Affairs has deep experience in drug development and medical affairs in multiple therapeutic areas including CV/metabolic. He has led several successful drug submission teams both in the US and globally, and launched multiple drugs. He achieved his BA, MD and residency completion at The Johns Hopkins University, Drexel University and Mount Sinai School of Medicine at New York University, respectively. He has 20+ years of biotech/pharma experience in both large (Pfizer, Sanofi, Forest labs) and small (Travere, Esperion) pharmaceutical companies. Currently, he is a principal at BHCC and provides clinical consulting to biotech and pharma.
Vice President of Pharmaceutical Development & CMC
Dr. Keivan Sadrerafi
Dr. Sadrerafi received his B.A. and M.S. in Analytical Chemistry from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, and his Ph.D. in Synthetic Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Missouri, Columbia. He brings more than 10 years of experience across the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries, with deep expertise in small molecule development, including cyclodextrin-based therapeutics and other complex active ingredients. He leads all CMC activities spanning multi-kilogram GMP drug substance manufacturing, drug product and formulation development, analytical strategy, and global regulatory CMC submissions. Dr. Sadrerafi is the author or co-author of multiple scientific publications and patents.
Director of Scientific Computing & Co-Founder
Dr. Amelia Anderson
Amelia Anderson (Mia) is a cofounder and Director of Computational Chemistry at Cyclarity Therapeutics. She began her work in the field at the SENS Research Foundation using computational approaches to designing cyclodextrin therapeutics, and now leads the development and deployment of a first-of-its-kind platform for cyclodextrin drug design. Amelia holds a B.S. in Biochemistry from UC Santa Barbara and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Theoretical Chemistry and Computational Modeling and Materials Science from the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela.
Principal Scientist
Dr. Prerna Bhargava
Dr. Bhargava received a B.A. in Biotechnology from Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, India, in 2011, and an M.S. and Ph.D. from Texas A&M University in Food Science & Technology in 2015 and 2019, respectively, researching the effect of bioactive compounds on inflammation and diabetic models in an in-vitro cell model system. She is an author on two journal publications, a book chapter, and has one patent application submitted. When she is not working, Prerna likes cooking, listening to music, playing badminton, and traveling.
Associate Scientist / Lab Manager
Darren Dinh
Darren earned his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from University of California, Davis in 2016. He enters Cyclarity as a research associate with a focus on designing and optimizing in-vitro assays to move potential drug candidates along the path towards the clinic. Darren enjoys baking desserts, playing classic video games and going on long walks around town with his corgi. Occasionally, he spend his free time, designing modular origami structures.
Senior Research Associate
Noa Petler
Noa received a B.A in Biochemistry and molecular Biology at Clark University in 2022, and an M.S in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Clark University in 2023. During her master’s program, she researched and optimized reaction parameters for cyclization of peptides under biological conditions for use in developing cancer treatments. In her free time, Noa enjoys knitting, cooking, and trying new crafts.
Senior Research Associate
Ana Silberg
Ana received a B.S. in Neuroscience and a minor in molecular engineering at the University of Chicago in 2022. During her undergraduate years, she researched local adaptation and plasticity in soapberry bugs and wrote her thesis on their optical properties. Outside of her academic research, she did organizing for environmental justice in Chicago. In her free time, she loves to play tennis, guitar, and write music.